


Breaking the Tension

by cockabeetle



Category: Mahou Suyo, Original Work
Genre: F/F, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-24
Updated: 2021-02-24
Packaged: 2021-03-14 11:48:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29666823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cockabeetle/pseuds/cockabeetle
Summary: The end of the Coffee Shop AU (or is it?)Nico finally lets go of her crush on BJ, BJ learns he came off as flirty.
Relationships: Vivi Szűcs/Nico Locklear





	Breaking the Tension

BJ makes another drink, handing it off to the customer at the front of the line. He smiles at the next customer, before lighting up a little.   
"Oh! Long time no see!"

Nico gives him a tight smile, this was gonna be weird.  
"Hey, how're you doing"? She gave him a small wave.

"Pretty okay, all things considered." He smiles.  
"What can I getcha? You busy today?"

"uh...Actually I'm free" She fixes her hair slightly.  
"But uh, I can just order a cupcake and a coffee for now, looks busy" She admits, looking around. Of all the days for her to do this, she had to choose this one, huh?

BJ nodded.  
"I'll be off in 30, wanna stick around 'til then, Sugar?" He smiled, as he picked up the cupcake with yellow icing.  
"Just a black coffee? Or something lighter?"

"Black's fine, thanks" She agreed, just glad that it wouldn't take too long to get to talk to him. Best get this over and done with, maybe she can meet Vivi afterwards if she's off by then too. She pays and collects her things before settling in a quiet booth to wait, just in case BJ wanted to sit with her when he got off.

BJ nods, handing her the cupcake and making her her coffee.   
"Here ya go, babes, lemme know if you need anything else?" He offers, after rattling off her total. He can't wait for his day to end, it'll be nice to catch up.

She nods at him, more intent at watching the clock than anything else.  
This was stupid, she knew it was but it felt wrong not to at least properly close this chapter, right? She picked at her muffin, mildly sipping the coffee as she kept one eye on BJ.

BJ finishes up his shift, and slides into the seat across from Nico with a smile.  
"Hey. Sorry to be so busy, but! It's nice to see you again."

"yeah! It's uh, it's great to see you too" She told him, rubbing the back of her neck.  
"Uh...how's work been for you? Busy with Valentines I assume"?

"Kinda. Trev's been dealing with some stuff, and he has to move back in with his fraternity for a while." He sighed.   
"What about you? Anything groundbreaking happen?"

Nico took a sip of her coffee, remembering in the group chat someone mentioning King was dealing with a personal issue...  
"Uh, kinda." she begins, settling the cup down.  
"It's sort of why I wanted to see you, uh...I may have a girlfriend now" She looks at him apprehensively, looking for his reaction.

BJ blinked.   
"Oh! Congrats!" He grinned.  
"That's fantastic, was it all romantic on Valentine's?" He leaned forward, curious.

She smiled a little, almost relieved that what she had for him was almost certainly one sided, that'll make it all the more easier.  
"S-Sort of...she bought me this gorgeous bouquet and even went into the meaning behind all the flowers and junk...she's so sweet" Nico couldn't help but gush over how cute Vivi was!  
"But uh...I said may have because...there's something I need to do, first"

"That's so sweet! She sounds like a peach." He paused.  
"Oh? What is it?"

"Uh...us, I guess" She starts out.  
"I know since the beginning and junk, we were kinda flirty and things and you're taking this news really well but uh, I guess I just wanted to...make sure that there's no hard feelings? I guess?" She blurted out, looking only at her coffee cup instead of him, heart pounding in her ears, the more she spoke the more stupid she realized she sounded.

BJ blinked a couple times.   
"Wait, shit, did I come off as flirty? I was just trying to be friendly!" He hid his face in his hands.

Nico's mouth hung open for a second before she started laughing, she couldn't help herself.  
Calming down a little she giggles with teary eyed; "I eheh...I guess if you didn't know you were being flirty, you're not really, being flirty...my mistake..."

BJ peaked out from between his fingers.  
"I'm so sorry, I should have been more clear, was it the nicknames? I get really familiar with people really quickly, I'm sorry!"

"It...it was probably me reading too much into it" She assured him, gently.  
"You're a charming guy and it was hard not to get swept up in it...but I guess it's a good thing I was wrong, I wasn't sure how this was going to go if you did actually like me" She laughs a little nervously.

"Right." He pulled his hands away from his face, giving her a smile.  
"Well, I can definitely say I'm just happy for you."

"Thanks" Nico smiled, relieved that this had gone so well.  
"How about you? You said Trev was in trouble or something?" She asked.

"It's. Something." He bit his lip.  
"He... somebody's sending him creepy Valentine's letters with pictures of him, like, minutes before he finds the note. There was one of me and him in our apartment."

Nico's mouth hung open in horror. That sounded like some sort of horror movie!  
"Oh my goddess! Is he okay? Please tell me he's gone to the police with this"!

"We... we haven't. I..." He sighed.  
"I wasn't born in the US, my dad wasn't here legally, either. So like... having them dig around would be. Bad." He grimaced.   
"Chey and I helped him move back in with his fraternity, hopefully the jocks'll keep him safe. We can't all be there for him all the time and I don't want him to be alone. What if this creep decides to mess with him?"

Nico nodded sympathetically, that all sounded so rough and complicated. Honestly she didn't know enough about immigration law to help him with that.  
"I've seen him around the campus a few times, I'll keep an eye out for anyone suspicious on my end" she told him, helpfully.

BJ nods.  
"You know Trev? I didn't know you two ran into each other." He smiled a little.   
"Thanks, though. I'm sorry this is such a downer, I've just. Been really freaked out by it."

"Just the once, I wouldn't have known it was him if you hadn't told me his name" she told him, even more ironic that she never would've known their identities either, funny how things can snowball like that.  
"You're allowed to be worried BJ, anyone would be" She told him.

BJ nodded.  
"That's cool. He doesn't really talk to people, I've tried to tell him to reach out more." He pouts a little, and sighs.  
"I guess, I just. I don't know, I feel. Like I'm not doing enough to help, and like I'm not going to be able to keep him safe. I don't know what to do."

"I guess being there for him is all you can do, until you know more I guess. Does he have no idea who's doing this? If they're taking pictures then he must've seen someone, right?" Nico asked, trying to wrap her head around all of it. Did this person know about King Titanoboa? Was that what was going on?

"Yeah, I guess. But... no. I didn't even see a flash when they got a picture of me. Through the window. Of his room. In our apartment." He ran a hand through his hair.   
"We're also worried about the guy figuring out... stuff, about Trev. He's only just gotten comfortable, I hate the idea of this pushing him back into the closet."

Nico's blood ran cold. That...that sounded so scary!! This person had even been to their house?? She understood being scared of the cops but this was some scary stuff!!  
"That's...that's horrifying" Nico gasped, heart pounding, what kind of person would do such a thing?!  
"I know you're worried about the police but now that he's living away from you, maybe he should at least report it? Just so there's a record of this, it sounds like it's escalated so fast"

BJ bit his lip.  
"I... tried suggesting it before he left for the frat. Maybe he'll listen now that he's got some protection to lean on?"

"Hopefully...that sounds awful, I hope you're all alright" She told him, honestly. She wasn't sure how much their secret identities played into this, if at all but the very idea sent shivers down her spine.

BJ nodded.  
"Yeah. I've been. Trying to keep a smile up, can't really let people know you're worried, right? It's not even really about me, so." He shrugged.

"It kind of is, Trev's your friend. It makes sense that this affects you" Nico tries to comfort him.

BJ sighed.   
"I mean, I guess. I just. It doesn't feel like I have a right to be concerned? I was only in that picture because I was giving Trev his mail."

"It's still scary. That person showed that they have access to your home, right? There's a chance they're gonna return if they haven't realized that Trev's moved out yet" Nico warns him, getting worried.

"Yeah, I guess. I just..." he shook his head.  
"Wanna talk about anything else?"

Nico pursed her lips, honestly yes but the only things coming to her mind now were their alter egos and with everything going on with Trevs stalker it felt like now would be a very bad time to broach the subject. Thinking for a moment, she goes;  
"Uh, how goes the drink ideas? I've been hearing your Spice drinks have taken off"

"Well. Kev, my boss, put his foot down, so... I had to come up with Team Sugar drinks. I... I've figured out some. But I'm still working on them." He huffs.  
"It's been so slow. And... did they get a new one? I haven't been able to tell."

Nico scrunched up her nose in thought, but Iced Perfection and Sharpshooter had been given access to the Sugar Hotline, but she had only met Icy once and had yet to meet Sharp herself, she was almost jealous that Sharp seemed to have seen Sugar Lips, who had been off the radar for a while...  
"Two, if i'm correct" Nico told him.  
"During a monster fight some new blue guy called Iced something apparently affiliated with Sugar and the one photo of Sugar this year, she's with this red gunslinger"

"Two. Well, they've caught up again." He ran a hand through his hair.  
"I think I saw a picture of the blue kid, I haven't actually seen the news of the gunslinger. Do they have a gun? I can't quite picture a magic gun." He ran a hand through his hair again, and dug into the pocket of his apron to pull out his notes.  
"Back to the drawing board for them, I guess."

Nico hummed as she watched BJ take notes.  
"I guess a magic gun's not that different from a magic bow, or darts..." she mused

"But it is, it's an entire mechanical... thing. A dart's just a feather and a stick, a bow is a giant slingshot with feathers and sticks. They're simple. It feels different." He taps his page.  
"Do you remember what I'd spitballed for the first three? I think I got them right but if you remember my original ideas it might help a little."

"A lemon muffin thing for Starburst, right?" Nico hummed in thought.  
"I think you suggested a red eye for Solar Blaze...something super super sweet for Sugar Lips...cotton candy I think?" she listed stretching her memory before cracking a wry smile; "And a stale earl grey for Blackbird"

"I have Iced Lemon Cake Frappe for Starburst, a Red Eye with milk art for Solar Blaze, a Unicorn Frappe for Sugar Lips, a Strawberry Mocha for Serenade. I was thinking of doing a White Chocolate Iced Mocha for the blue kid." He sighs.   
"What the hell do I do for a gunslinger?"

Nico pursed her lips "Well, she's red. Maybe something like a strawberry and raspberry cooler"

"Hmm. Maybe I'll do something..." he pulls out his phone to look at the new Sugar kid.  
"Gold, Red, and Black. Maybe..." he taps his pen.  
"Rose and Cardamom Latte? Maybe with honey as a flavor addition?" He glanced up at Nico.  
"I can never remember if floral coffees are things people like. Felicity likes Lavender in hers, but. This one's just... to not use cherry, or strawberry again."  
furubatsuToday at 2:55 PM  
"I like rose tea sometimes...but that's hardly a coffee" Nico thinks for a moment.  
"But maybe rose, dark chocolate and honey? That way you got all of the colours in there and a hint of bitterness to balance out the sweetness of the rose and honey"

BJ hummed.  
"I could do that, yeah." He notes that down as an option.   
"Do you think the others sound good? There aren't any super sweet drinks like with Captain's Freakshake or the Snow Affogato, but. Team Sugar doesn't have explicitly sweet themed magical warriors, either."

"That's true. I think the new blue guy has a sweet theme but I've only seen him the once so I'd need a better look" Nico noted, almost amused that with Cap, Boulet and Spice made an entire food themed team. She had to assume Chicanery was an allusion to Chicory tea too with that in mind.  
"But I guess that would say a lot about the Goddess if everyone had a food theme, wouldn't it"?

"Could you blame her? I mean, Titanoboa and Lovestruck are a snake and love, and Chicanery's a word for luck and deception. But... well. Who doesn't think about food a lot?"

"That's what chicanery means"?! Nico asked, bewildered. She guessed that suited his weapons, not to mention that he looked like he worked as a casino, she felt her cheeks flush a little as she realized how far off she was with her guess.

BJ blinked.  
"H-hey, I know it's an old-fashioned word but it's not that unknown! Give him some slack!" He flapped a hand.  
"What else could he be? He looks like he runs a casino! He's even covered in spades!"

Nico sank into her chair a little before mumbling "I thought it was like, chicory, you know, the herb"?

BJ snorted, eyebrows raised.  
"Really? I'd have never thought of that. I mean, I'm familiar with chicory, but... I used to spend a lot of time around gamblers and card sharks. I guess our bases of knowledge are just a little different." He patted the table, smiling at her.  
"I'm not making fun, you don't need to hide."

She gives him a grateful smile, really, this was the side of him she liked. The sweet and charming young man, maybe it was because he wasn't in the heat of battle he was like this? She wondered as she sat up straight.  
"I guess so...maybe I should invest in a thesaurus" She chuckles.

BJ nodded.  
"Probably wouldn't hurt. I mean, having a bigger vocabulary just makes it easier to find the right word, right?" He props his cheek up on his palm.   
"So... what's your working theory behind everyone else's names? I'm curious if we have different interpretations."

Nico avoids his gaze for a moment.  
"I guess I assumed like, King Titan and Queen Love were like, a couple or something? Because you know, a king and queen duo...they even have matching colours but I think I got that wrong" She combs her fingers through her hair, almost self conscious that he would tell them all of this.  
"Uh...Sugar and Spice are obvious, they used to work together and like, Sugar, Spice and everything nice. Uh...Starburst was because her arrows look like shooting stars and Solar Blaze has like a sun on her shield, even though most of her outfit is black. Uh...Blackbird confused me, because she was all blue and junk. Captain Caramel just sounds cute? It matches her colour scheme and evokes authority, right?" She thinks some more, having only paid as much thought to these things as she had clearly not given Chicanery's name.

"From what I've heard, King Titanoboa refers to the Titanoboa snake and the concept of a king of the food chain, like a t-rex. He was calling himself the top of the food chain." He thinks for a moment.  
"Queen Lovestruck refers to Queen of Hearts and was picked completely independently to Titan. I think they're friends with Chicanery, but none of them like, made their names together." He smiled.  
"Starburst did make me wonder about those candies at first, especially since she's also yellow and red. But I kinda doubt it was intentional, you'd think she'd be into marketing if that were the case." He taps his chin.  
"Solar Blaze does a good job evoking her name with her aesthetic, to be honest. But Blackbird was definitely a weird choice." He smirks.  
"Captain Caramel is adorable as a name, and does kinda fit her aesthetically, it's also kinda funny half of Team Spice has ranks like that, I wonder if that'll keep happening?"

"What? Wanna bet the next member's a Prince or Princess"? She teases resting her head on her palms.

"Or perhaps an Admiral. Imagine getting a full Navy." He grins.  
"Wouldn't that be fun?"

Nico snorted at that. "That would be something"! She imagined some magical warrior with their own boat.

"So. Have you heard anything since last time we talked? I know it's been a while since we've gossiped about the Teams."

"Not much aside from the two new kids..." Nico looked down at what was left of her muffin. She...she couldn't tell him that Trev revealed their identity, right? Not with everything going on with him, that was the last thing he had to worry about, right?

BJ frowned.  
"Nico? Sugar? Something wrong?" He tilted his head at her.  
"Is everything okay with you? Your family?"

"H-huh?! Oh! Uh...yeah"! She replied, snapping out of it.  
"Just thinking about those bat thingy's earlier in the month, you know? Seemed like we had gone so long without a monster attack and then those guys' ' She smiled awkwardly.

BJ hummed.  
"It is nice that they've stopped, now. Or at least they've seemed to." He bites his lip.  
"You sure you're okay? You don't have to hide anything."

Nico watched him warily, if Trev hadn't told him about her knowing then he probably didn't want him to know, this could wait... "I'm sure! Thanks for asking" She replies breezily.

BJ nodded.  
"If you're sure." He leans forward again.  
"So, your girlfriend. Are you gonna do things for a one month anniversary? Or do you not shower your partners in affection? I can go either way, but Trev's allergic to letting people know he cares and I can never guess with other people."

"I'm not sure," She admits.  
"I mean first I gotta tell her I'm officially over you, so we can start dating. As crazy as that sounds" She laughs a little embarrassed. "But I do wanna treat her, for being so patient" She adds warmly.

"Well, she gave you flowers, and you run a bakery. Make her a couple cupcakes or something, if she's into sweets, and let her know. You could even make a whole day of it, plan a trip to a restaurant and everything? That's always the best part of dating. The showing you care part."

"I'll see...thanks for the tips B" She notes down on her phone quickly the ideas, better than nothing so far at least.

BJ grinned.  
"Any time. And really, good luck with her, I hope you two do well together."

"Thanks!" she grinned. "I hope everything goes well with you and Trev, too" she adds honestly.

BJ nodded.  
"Thank you. If you ever wanna pick her up one of the Team drinks, from either team, let me know. On the house, just for you." He winks.  
"Least I can do, right?"

"I might just take you up on that" She teases, poking her tongue out. This was...a real weight off her shoulders, better than she expected at least. She had managed to see where she stood with BJ, at least as BJ and Nico and some insight about Chicanery and King Titan disappearing during a fight, as worrying at the reason was, she could at least see that it wasn't her taking King Titan's attitude towards dragging Chicanery off at face value and them just being flippant about the monsters.  
"I'm glad we can still be friends, B".

"Me too. I'm really glad I didn't fuck up, I'd hate to lose one so soon." He grinned.   
"If you ever wanna chat like this again, lemme know! We could even walk and talk." He winked.  
"Now, I'm probably gonna have to run home and check on Fe and see if Trev feels better. I hope your day goes well from here, Sugar."

"You too, promise me you'll stay safe out there" She asked, only half joking.

BJ crossed his heart with a smile.  
"Of course. You too."


End file.
